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THE BAZOOMIS "A SHORT BUT BRIGHT LIFE"

A lot of memories that include incidents and situations that happened to me during the chapter of my life referred to as the "Punk Rock Explosion" seem to have simply disappeared.

Eroded by time and confused by opinions, the clarity is at times as hard to see as if in a thick London smog.

But strangely enough my short stint with the Bazoomis is not.

Whether it was due to their enthusiasm, their sheer raw energy, their songs, their superb musicianship or their mixture of personalities I really don't know

But what I do know is it made the combination unforgettable.

Mick Toldi was one of the most talented guitarists I have ever worked with and John Christodoulou a truly superb bassist with charisma to match.

Back in 2009 I was asked to contribute an article about The Swank (my first punk band)

For the bored teenagers website, and was told by Dizzy that Metin Kamil, the lead vocalist of The Bazoomis, had died in a horrific and tragic incident.

It made me both sad and angry that Metin, this gentle and sensitive soul had his life taken away at such an early age.

When I got back in touch with Dizzy recently, he told me that both Tim and Mick had also sadly passed away. So this is a tribute to those three talented and vibrant musicians who are no longer with us.

In 1977 I played at the Roxy with The Swank and the Bazoomis were also on the bill.

As soon as they came on, you couldn't take your eyes off them.

Great songs, great energy, great band.

About two weeks later I bumped into them, strolling along the Kings road on a Saturday afternoon

We both remembered each other and they asked what I was up to.

I told them I'd left the Swank and John (I think) said to give them a call and scrawled the number down. I (of course) lost it immediately!

There was no social media, no mobile phones so basically I was fucked!

Anyway..........A few weeks later I was told they were looking for a drummer so I turned up for an audition off the Kings Rd somewhere.

As soon as I walked in I knew I'd got the job....

Their manager told me to ring later.

I did, and he said you're in. The boys want to meet up with you ASAP. Can you go to their flat above Cecil Gees on the Kings Rd?!!

What???? A band with a manager and a gaff on the kings Rd! It doesn't get much better!

Many a night was spent at the Chelsea Potter pub, and stealing food from the outdoor fridges at the back of the Italian restaurant downstairs in the dead of night.

Those were the good times..........

But unfortunately the band soon burnt out. Mainly due to drugs, and the negative disruptive influence that the middle class junkie Keith Levine had on Mick around the time that PIL were in their infancy.

I could see the writing on the wall and went on to bigger and better things (allegedly!) when I joined Chelsea. Recording three albums, touring the US three times, and Europe countless times. Also recording sessions for the John peel show, appearing on the OGWT, in concert, and appearing in "Urgh a music war" to mention just a few.

I then went on to join "the Boys" and still to this day am involved in writing and playing music.

Thankfully there is the Bazoomis album on Detour records to get some idea of what the band were all about. I'm playing on 6 tracks that were recorded for State Records in 1977.

And listening to them today I still believe the band really should have gone onto bigger and better things. They really were that good. But unfortunately there were too many outside influences that prevented the bands success.

So here's to the Bazoomis.....One Turk, one Hungarian, two Greeks and an Englishman.

What a combination! It was both an honour and a pleasure to have shared and disgraced the stage with you all.

From the forthcoming book "Punk rock ruined my life"